E-cigs To Be An Official Alternative To Smoking?

Portugal Socialist Party Wants E-cigs To Be An Official Alternative To Smoking

Yes, this is a real news story – and it’s certainly an interesting one, as far as we are concerned. We originally found it published on theportugalnews.com (you can view it here), and were so interested in it that we decided to cover it here on our own site.

Here’s what you need to know.

Basically, the socialist party wants to classify non-combustible cigarette alternatives differently than the government currently classifies cigarettes – and electronic cigarettes, along with those new heated tobacco devices, are the candidates in the lime-light. The changes to the laws would basically state that ‘the new products (E-cigs and heated tobacco) must be considered in the prevention.’

Socialist MP, Maria Antónia Almeida Santos, acted as the spokesperson in the article for those working on the new laws, and made several statements that seemed to be aimed at helping those on the other side to understand why E-cigs were being chosen as part of this new prospective legislation.

And the answer to this is, not surprisingly, not that difficult to understand.

Why Is This Law Being Discussed?

The main answer to this question is simply this… that smokers should know that there are alternatives to traditional tobacco smoke.

Modern alternatives to smoking, such as vaping or heated tobacco, could provide smokers with an alternative to their habit that could allow them to still enjoy something similar – but without many of the negative, harmful, and dangerous side-effects.

What’s The Problem?

There are obviously some people who don’t agree that this law should pass. Opponents of the law are really saying the same thing that almost every vaping opponent says – that vaping has not been around for long enough for us to be sure that it will not be causing a ton of health problems down the line.

The bottom line, of course, is safety – but the article published on theportugalnews.com actually did a lot to address this. Here’s what MP Maria Antónia Almeida Santos said in response to this challenge…

“There is proof in the reduction of harmfulness compared with traditional cigarettes. Of that there is proof. Stopping smoking may involve other options, apart from just smoking or not smoking.”

The government in Portugal has actually already presented Parliament with a proposed alteration to the current tobacco laws, which would essentially make alternative devices like E-cigs the same thing, as far as the laws are concerned.

But obviously, proponents of vaping cry out against this – saying that E-cigs are nothing like cigarettes. They do not pose the same risks, they are not used the same, and they don’t even contain tobacco.

It certainly does seem a bit odd that governments would feel the need to regulate vaping devices similarly to tobacco products – though the presence of nicotine does provide a bit of a link between the two. Nicotine is the chemical found in tobacco that gives it its stimulating, yet addictive quality – and a lot of E-cigs contain this chemical so that it can more realistically act as a legitimate alternative to real tobacco cigarettes.

Other Anti-Smoking Measures Being Spearheaded By The Portuguese Socialist Party

The Socialist party in Portugal is actually taking quite a stand against smoking, and is doing a lot to try to help smokers get the help they need, on a lot of fronts. They are also proposing, for example, that there should be a prohibition against discriminating against smokers in the workplace. They also say that that smoking prevention and control campaigns should be run in every workplace to try to help smoking employees to quit.

They are also proposing that a network be set up to help provide support to stop smoking to people in health centre groups… along with a number of other possible additions to the law.

In the end, we are happy to see this. We are always happy when vaping is recognized for what it has the potential to be – and are pleased that such a public group would go to such great lengths to see vaping treated fairly.

About The Author

NicoleIt's my passion to do the research about familiar to me topics, especially when it comes to electronic cigarettes and the whole vaping industry as such. I hope you will find my content useful and when / if you do - please do share it! I will appreciate it! :) See our ''Who We Are'' page to find out more about me and my colleagues. Thanks and I look forward to your comments and feedback.